GAA/Athletics Ireland Press Release

None O’Rourke to Star in Athletics’ Ireland Inter-Provincial Super Sprint Relay to commemorate
GAA’s 125th Anniversary Celebration

Spectators at the GAA Football All Ireland semi-final this coming Sunday will get a unique opportunity to see Ireland’s elite athletes battle it out alongside GAA stars in an Inter-Provincial Super Sprint Relay as part of the GAA’s 125th Anniversary celebrations.

 Irish athletes including Derval O’Rourke, Paul Hession and David Gillick will compete alongside Gaelic stars including Alan Kerins, Galway, Colman Goggins, Dublin and James Loughrey, Antrim. The sporting stars will represent their provinces in what promises to be an exhilarating 6×100 yards shuttle style relay at half-time of the Senior Game.

The race, jointly organised by the GAA and Athletics Ireland, will highlight the GAA’s traditional links with Athletics as well as the athletics background of some of the founding fathers of the Gaelic Athletics Association including Michael Cusack and Maurice Davin.

The team will be captained by Ireland’s elite athletes who are flying back from the World Championships in Berlin to be part of the festivities. The honour of leading them out onto the pitch has been given to Olive Loughnane of Loughrea AC after her tremendous silver medal performance at the World Championships in the 20km walk last Sunday. Further excitement has been added to this event following Derval O’Rourke’s performance at the World Championships last night. The Cork woman had the race of her life to finish fourth in the 100m hurdles, setting a new Irish Record of 12.67 seconds. David Gillick also had a tremendous run in his semi-final to make Friday’s 400m final. Each provincial team will be made up of top two male and female athletes and they will be joined in the spectacle by two GAA stars.

Jarlath Burns , Chairman of the GAA 125 Committee, said:. “On behalf of Coiste 125, I would like to offer a Céad Míle Fáílte to our friends and colleagues in Athletics Ireland and wish all our athletes every success in today’s relay. It is great to see finally all our native sports being showcased under one roof at the magnificent Páirc an Chrócaigh. Cusack, Davin, Nally, Dineen and the rest of our founding fathers whose love of our games began with Athletics would no doubt be proud of us today”.

Athletics Ireland President Liam Hennessey said: “It is a great honour for Athletics Ireland to have this opportunity to join in the GAA’s 125th anniversary celebrations and to commemorate our heritage. Many of the famed Irish throwers and jumpers who went on to win Olympic medals in the early 20th century were first exposed to athletics under the GAA’s auspices. Our finest sprinter talent will compete in this wonderful stadium and we hope that it will produce an exciting event for all and that it may be the first of many joint ventures between us in the future.”

Inter-Provincial Super Sprint Relay Celebrating 125 Years of the GAA

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